Wednesday Words – Playing Mom

Image August 6, 2014 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

My Kids love role playing, but it’s always hard to catch them in action. Remember they are smarter than me. 😕

Playing Mom, Abhishek, Tisha, Otu, Renne — Playing Mom

Yesterday was different. I had a Spy. 😈

Everytime they are playing in their room, and I would happen to visit, they will go completely quiet on me. You must think that they are scared of me??? Nope. Not in any dimension, of any world. 🙄

They use to enact me. My every word, every move. That’s why they go quiet with a sheepish smile on their face. Specially Otu. He repeats every word coming out of my mouth, with the same tone, like making a joke of me. Devil!!! The moment I’ll come out of their play room, they will laugh out loud, as if they have succeeded in their small mission of hiding their naughty plans from me. 😐

Coming to yesterday’s events. My Spy…. Yes, I was coming to that. My dear Hubby. He obliged me this time, by intruding into the enemy lines and bringing me back, important strategic information from across the border. 😉

These were the observations….

Tisha: Boys (talking to her two naughty brothers), sit properly. Renne, don’t move.

Renne: Okay.

Otu: OK. Mamma.

(OMG, Tisha was playing MOM. Tisha was playing Me.) 😆

Tisha: Boys. Mamma is cooking food. Don’t cry. Renne, what do you want?

Renne: Chicken.

Tisha. Otu, what do you want?

Otu: (long pause) Egg. No. Ice cream. 🙂

Tisha: Ok, baby. (seeing her Papa also sitting in the corner), boys, I am making tea for your Papa. Okay Boys…. Renne….. sit properly.

Swirls water in her glass, and serve tea to Papa and boys. Papa Happy.

Papa so proud, as if telling me, look my daughter makes tea better than you. 😎

Tisha: Ok boys, get ready. Pick up your bag. Go to school.

Boys obediently took their bags. Stock it up with all the toys they found lying around.

Otu, Renne: Bbye Mamma (to Tisha).

Tisha: Bye baby. Bye. I love you. See you soon.

Playing Mom, Renne Singh, Otu Singh, Tisha Singh — Playing Mom

If you are thinking, Oh! how cute. How sweet?? How nice your kids are???

This sweetness is all for role play. Once real food is served, you won’t find a single one of them, sitting peacefully at one place, including their father. 😛

Books

Tuesday Text – The Story Of Philosophy

Image August 5, 2014 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

‘The Story Of Philosophy‘, is a book by Anne Rooney, illustrating the advent of thinking Philosophers and the evolution of Philosophy over the time. This book traces it’s Philosophical roots from ancient Greeks to the modern thinkers.

Beautiful illustrations with side notes, and related short stories embedded in the text, enhances the whole experience of reading and learning. It won’t make any point in reviewing this book, as it actually is a journey of the philosophical ideas of various philosophers. So, I would rather present to you some snapshot, or shall I say intellectual words deserving a good sharing with wider audience.

When Rene Descartes said, ‘I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am‘, he put forward a very good reasoning, that I reason, that is why I am into existence, but what am I? What is I? This is the difference between Being and Knowing.

Another riveting topic is, should we believe in God, or not? Or, why should we believe in God? Pascal’s wager gave us a solution about the existence of God. He said “If God does not exist, we lose nothing by believing that he does – death brings annihilation whether we believe or not. But if he does exist, then we stand to gain everything (salvation) by believing that he does, and to lose everything (damnation) by thinking that he doesn’t.”

Thought proving discussion has taken place among philosophers of various centuries to understand, what are we? What is Human Being? Is he mind, or matter, or soul? Where does our soul go when we die? Where do we go, when we die? Is there a heaven and hell? What is Self? What is consciousness? As Searle, put it, “Consciousness is an emergent property of the brain”. But, is it, only that?

Most fascinating thing that happened in the history of Philosophy is the relationship that three of the world’s greatest Philosophers have shared with each other. Great Philosopher Aristotle, was a pupil of Plato, who was actually a devoted pupil of Socrates, the great thinker of his time. What an amazing Philosophical lineage?

Socrates has once stated that “man cannot search either for what he knows or for what he does not know. He cannot search for what he knows – since he knows it, there is no need to search – nor for what he does not know, for he does not know what to look for.”

How should we live? If everything is predestined by God, how does it matter? How can we judge action of others, if every one of us is behaving the same way as God has destined us to do? What is a free will? If there is a free will, what will we choose, good or bad? How will we choose? Can we ever live in a perfect ethical and morally good society? What is good?

At the end, a Quote by Bertrand Russel, summarize it all by stating “The point of Philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.”

Food

Mouthwatering Monday – Boondi Raita

Image August 4, 2014 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

So far I have shown you recipes which my kids prefer to eat. Now, just for a change, and for a very special request, my husband’s favorite Raita Recipe – The Boondi Raita.

Boondi Raita is a side dish served with Indian Meal. It can also be used as a dip or salad, or as salad dressing too. Raita can be prepared with different ingredients like, cucumber (my favorite), tomato, onion, pumpkin, mint, pineapple etc… here, I have made one from Boondi, which is a Rajasthani food item, prepared from chickpea flour, with spices added to it before frying.

Let’s go and make ourselves a bowl of Boondi Raita, now.

Ingredients –

1 cup Curd
½ cup Boondi (Khara/Tikha)
½ tbsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
½ tbsp fried Cumin.
¼ tbsp Red Chilli Powder
¼ tbsp Black Pepper Powder
½ tbsp Chaat Masala
1 tbsp chopped Mint Leaves
Salt as per your taste.

Method –

Soak Boondi in warm water for 15 -20 Minutes.
Drain the Boondi gently, without mashing them. Keep aside.
Whisk curd in a bowl. Add water if desired for the desired consistency.
Add all the spices along with chopped Mint leaves.
Mix well.
Add Boondi to curd mixture. Mix it gently.
Sprinkle with fried Cumin.
Garnish with Mint Leaves, and serve cold.

Best thing about Boondi Raita, or for the matter any other kind of Raita is that, it’s ingredients can be replaced with so many available variations.

Like, you can use Coriander leaves instead of Mint, or you can use green chilli instead of red chilli powder, black salt instead of normal sea salt. You can totally ditch Cumin if you are not a fan. Even chaat masala is upto your taste buds. So, even if you will just have curd and Boondi mixed together, with some salt, you will have a Boondi Raita. 😀

That’s easy, right???

P.S. My cooking is experimental. You will find many similar and different recipes, but the idea is to explore your food and do experiments with it. Enjoy Cooking Experiments and Experiences 🙂